TechRadar is saying today that Nintendo is planning to unveil the Wii 2 at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June even though the gaming company has repeatedly denied that the console is even in development.
Just last month, the company said it was not ready to begin phasing out the Wii, despite at least five quarters of declining sales.
The Wii remains a “last generation” console, whereas gaming rivals Xbox 360 and PS3 are “current generation,” with better Internet connectivity and better graphics among other features.
TR speculates that the new Wii 2 will boast a hugely improved spec sheet, including a quad-core processor, a Blu-ray drive, and built-in projector.
Nintendo quickly responded with a “no comment.”
Result for: rivals
According to Bloomberg, Amazon is on pace to sell 8 million Kindle e-readers this year, much higher than analysts have predicted.
The news agency cites people “aware of the company’s sales projections,” and says the 8 million sales figure should be hit easily. Analysts, on average, had anticipated 5 million sales.
These same sources also say Amazon sold 2.4 million Kindles last year.
Goldman Sachs had estimated 4-5 million, Caris & Co had predicted 4.8 million and Citigroup, Barclays Capital, BGC Partners LP and ThinkEquity all noted anticipated sales of 5 million.
Amazon recently began selling a thinner, lighter Wi-Fi-only model of their Kindle for $139, seeing strong sales after its launch.
The e-tailing giant has not confirmed the numbers.
Rivals Sony and Barnes & Noble do not disclose their e-reader sales, either.
Result for: rivals
Tomorrow at the FPD International 2010 trade show in Japan, the Chinese company Hanvon will unveil the first e-reader to include a color e-ink display, giving it a distinct advantage over rivals like the Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook.
Black-and-white e-ink displays are currently used in 90 percent of the world’s e-readers, says the NYTimes.
The Apple iPad and the recently launched Nook Color both use LCD color screens.
Jennifer K. Colegrove, director of display technologies at DisplaySearch, described the moment: “This is a very important development. It will bring e-readers to a higher level.”
While it is simple to make e-readers with LCD screens, the LCDs tend to take away many advantages of the devices. E-ink screens consume much less battery power and energy and are also readable no matter how bad glare is from sunlight.
Color e-ink screens do have their downsides, however, compared to LCDs. LCD screens will be much sharper, more colorful, and able to handle video. Color e-ink screens have “muted” colors and can only handle “simple animations,” notes the NYTimes.
Havon’s reader will begin sales this March in China at the equivalent of $440 USD. It will have a 9.68-inch screen and will include both Wi-Fi and 3G support.
The iPad sells for $600 in China.
